A heated conversation tipped the beginning of Thursday's Desert Empire Fair Board meeting as its executive director gave his report.

Mike Leming reported that DEF's April 13 Beer, Wine and Food Walk was a resounding success, with 300 people attending, plus it made $4,000 in profit for the fairgrounds. He complimented his staff and the board itself for helping with the event's ticket sales.

Around 109 tickets were sold at the gate alone.

During the event, local businesses offered up food and wine for the festival, instead of breweries and wineries.

Board member Howard Laire asked about the brief dry spells when local vendors ran out of wine, especially red wines, and had heard concerns from people who had attended the event.

Leming said that there was no way to anticipate the number of people that showed up at the event. A lot of things were based on ticket presales, which he said numbered only 75 by Wednesday.

Additionally, Leming reported that the DEF's own booth had run out of food by the end of the event.

“What people don't understand is that when they wait until the last minute, it is extremely hard to be able to plan,” Leming said. “It's a first-time event for us, so we'll make it better the next time.”

Laire pointed out it was a matter of perception.

“When you're dealing with a customer and you have the customer upset because there is no wine, you're not going to get that customer back again,” Laire said.

Board president Ron Kicinski said many Ridgecrest residents tended show up at events at the last moment.

“In my mind, you can't eliminate tickets at the gate,” Kicinski said. “And food and wine are the toughest things to keep up with.”

Laire reiterated that the Fairgrounds was providing a product when it sold the ticket and “needs to fulfill that promise.”

Laire said the matter was simple: if the vendor was not supplying wine, the fair should supply it.

Leming reported that the fairground staff had paid out of their own pockets purchase an additional 21 bottles of wine, in addition to the extra bottles Espresso Caffe and Grape Leaf Restaurant purchased.

“We have four people that work at the fairgrounds and they worked their butts off at the event,” he said. He said it made no sense to complain about some things with such a short staff.

“People should be a part of the solution and not the problem,” Leming said. “Volunteer to help me is all I ask.”

DEF staff member Teresa Draves said that the only comments she had heard at the gate were about how much of a good time people were having.

Page 2 of 2 - Boardmember Catherine Rogers said from a financial standpoint, it was impractical for vendors to show up with excess wine or food. Vendors might be stuck with an excess amount if too few people showed up.

Boardmember Kim Alexander said, that from her point of view, it was good the fairgrounds ran out of wine.

“That shows us how hungry the community is for that kind of entertainment,” she said.

Leming conceded that Laire had raised some good points, but given that it was a first time event, he’ll make the necessary adjustments to make sure future Beer and Wine walks are better.

When asked about the frequency about future events, Leming concluded it would only be held once a year.

“You've got to make it something people look forward to,” Leming said.